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© 2025. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the "License"). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Green Bay, the largest freshwater embayment in Lake Michigan, is a unique environment consisting of a trophic gradient along its north‐to‐south axis that shapes the heterogeneous and dynamic habitat, driving diverse fish behavior among the remnant coastal wetlands of Green Bay. Although previous studies of aquatic food webs in Green Bay have focused on lower trophic levels to estimate trophic shift responses, we examined trophic relationships among fish communities in five coastal wetland areas of Green Bay, emphasizing top predator species of recreational and commercial importance in Lake Michigan. We used stable isotope‐based community metrics and Bayesian mixing models to describe food web structure and patterns in trophic position, isotopic niche, and diet contributions of top predators, including bowfin Amia calva, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, northern pike Esox lucius, smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, walleye Sander vitreus, and yellow perch Perca flavescens. We found high probability (> 70%) of overlap among the isotopic niches of piscivorous, invertivorous, and benthivorous fish, reflecting the capacity of different feeding guilds to exploit isotopically similar sources. In addition, we found that invertivorous fish represented a critical trophic link between the top‐level fish populations and lower levels, such as aquatic invertebrates. Lastly, we found that top predators diversified their diet in lacustrine wetlands but had a distinct foraging habitat preference in riverine wetlands, emphasizing the importance of habitat type and structure in feeding diversity. Top predators in Green Bay displayed a high degree of isotopic niche plasticity, as evidenced by differences in trophic positions and foraging strategies at each site. Flexibility in fish feeding ecology, such as variations in dietary overlap and niche space, along with the hydrogeomorphic setting, underpins the ability of fish communities of Green Bay to thrive under different stressors.

Details

Title
Coastal Wetlands Drive Isotopic Niche Plasticity of Top Predator Fish Communities in Green Bay, Lake Michigan (USA)
Author
Rojas, Tania V. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; O'Reilly, Katherine E. 2 ; Houghton, Christopher J. 3 ; Shrovnal, Jeremiah S. 4 ; Berg, Martin B. 5 ; Uzarski, Donald G. 6 ; Lamberti, Gary A. 7 ; Forsythe, Patrick S. 3 

 Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries Laboratory, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin‐Green Bay, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA, Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA 
 Illinois‐Indiana Sea Grant, Champaign, Illinois, USA 
 Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries Laboratory, Department of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin‐Green Bay, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA 
 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Fisheries Management, Bayfield, Wisconsin, USA 
 Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA 
 Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA 
 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA 
Section
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Publication year
2025
Publication date
May 1, 2025
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
e-ISSN
20457758
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3212476760
Copyright
© 2025. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the "License"). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.